Federal File

Rural Routes

Amid the cries of some state leaders and rural educators about the
challenges of the No Child Left Behind Act, federal officials recently
shined a spotlight on several examples of rural schools that have been
meeting the law's requirements using the wonders of technology.

Secretary of Education Rod Paige and acting Deputy Secretary Eugene
W. Hickok were the guides for a town hall-style meeting on the Internet
on Sept. 25.

Department officials did not specify how some of the schools'
technology-based projects were meeting the mandates of the No Child
Left Behind law. But the schools' projects seemed to impress the senior
officials.

In Montana, students were linked with scientists in the field
through the JASON Foundation's Web project, which serves rural students
in grades 4-9 and on American Indian reservations.

"JASON really sparked an interest in science for me," John Atkinson,
a senior at Billings High School, said on the Webcast. "I don't think
I'll ever let go of it."

In Iowa, the ways rural schools are using technology to meet the
mandates of the law seemed clearer. Because many small towns can't
provide highly qualified teachers in every subject and grade, schools
are reaching out and sharing their expertise.

The Iowa Communications Network links 750 school videoconference
sites across the state, allowing courses such as Spanish to be taught
in many schools where no teacher is qualified to lead such a
course.

Brad Benton, a calculus teacher at Iowa's 500-student Manning
Community School, said he was a skeptic, but had grown to love teaching
students over the Web.

The West Virginia Virtual School provides a similar service.

Coordinator Donna Miller said middle school students even in the
most remote parts of the Mountain State now can take foreign-language
classes. More than 1,200 students are enrolled in the virtual school,
and the numbers keep growing, she said.

Finally, rural schools in New Mexico showed how they were using
handheld computers to test young children's reading skills. "We look
forward to exposing our students to the rest of the world via the use
of technology," said Albert Martinez, the superintendent of the Wagon
Mound school district.